Varying Metacognition Through Public Opinion Questions: How Language Can Affect Political Engagement

Guided by feelings-as-information theory, this experiment examined whether the difficulty of language in public opinion questions would influence reports of political interest and political efficacy. Results (N = 235) found that exposure to the easy language condition led to higher reports of political interest and efficacy than in the difficult language condition and that this effect was mediated by processing fluency. These findings proffer implications for the strategic use of language in political engagement and civic education initiatives.